Physicists to be Honored at 1996 APS/AAPT Joint Meeting

Twelve APS prizes and awards will be presented during a special ceremonial session at the Society's general meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, 2-5 May 1996, held in conjunction with the American Association of Physics Teachers. Citations and biographical information for each recipient follows.

Prizes

1996 JULIUS E. LILIENFELD PRIZE
The Lilienfeld Prize was established in 1988 under the terms of a bequest of Beatrice Lilienfeld in memory of her husband, Julius Edgar Lilienfeld. It is intended to recognize outstanding contributions to physics by an individual who has also demonstrated exceptional skills in lecturing to diverse audiences. The prize includes expenses for three lectures to be given by the recipient at an APS general meeting, a research university, and a predominantly undergraduate institution.

Kip S. ThorneCalifornia Institute of Technology

Citation: "For contributing significantly to the theoretical understanding of such topics as black holes, gravitational radiation and quantum nondemolition measurements; for advocating tirelessly the development of gravitational radiation detectors; and for conveying lucidly the excitement of these topics to professional and lay audiences alike."

Thorne received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1965. After two years of postdoctoral study, he returned to Caltech as an associate professor, becoming professor of theoretical physics in 1970. He became the William R. Kenan Jr., Professor in 1981 and the Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics in 1991. Thorne's research has focused on gravitation physics and astrophysics, with emphasis on black holes and gravitational waves. He was co-founder of the LIGO Project (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory), and he and his research group are now working on theoretical aspects of LIGO.

1996 TOM W. BONNER PRIZE
The Tom W. Bonner Prize was established in 1964 to recognize and encourage outstanding experimental research in nuclear physics, including the development of a method, technique, or device that significantly contributes in a general way to nuclear physics research.

John Dirk WaleckaCEBAF/College of William and Mary

Citation: "For his pre-eminent theoretical guidance and inspirational leadership in exploiting electromagnetic and weak probes of the nucleus and for his fundamental contributions to the understanding of the nucleus as a relativistic quantum many-body system."

Walecka received his Ph.D. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1958. He spent two years at CERN and Stanford on an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship, and in 1960, joined the Stanford Physics Faculty, turning emeritus in 1987. In 1986, Walecka became Scientific Director of CEBAF and served in that capacity until 1992, when he became Governor's Distinguished CEBAF Professor of Physics at the College of William & Mary and Senior Fellow at CEBAF. He is currently chair of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics, and of the Physics Department at William & Mary.

1996 W.K.H. PANOFSKY PRIZE
Established in 1985 by the friends of W.K.H. Panofsky and the Division of Particles and Fields, this prize is awarded annually in recognition of outstanding achievements in experimental particle physics.

Gail Hanson Citation: "Gail Hanson and Roy Schwitters are honored for their separate contributions which together provided the first clear evidence that hadronic final states in e+e- annihilation, which are largely composed of spin 0 and spin 1 particles, originate from the fragmentation of spin 1/2 quarks. Gail Hanson observed hadron jets and determined the jet axis by developing and applying the sphericity analysis to the hadrons in e+ e- events. She showed that events become more jet-like with increasing energy, contrary to what one expects from a simple phase space production mechanism. Using the beam polarization, she showed that the observed azimuthal distribution of the jet axis was that expected from the production of spin 1/2 quarks that fragment into hadrons."

Hanson received her Ph.D. from MIT in 1972 and joined the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center as a research associate, eventually becoming a permanent member of the research staff. She left SLAC in 1989 to become a professor of physics at Indiana University. A fellow of both the APS and AAPT, she has served on numerous advisory committees, including the HEPAP Subpanel on High Energy Physics over the next decade.

Roy Schwitters Citation: "Gail Hanson and Roy Schwitters are honored for their separate contributions which together provided the first clear evidence that hadronic final states in e+ e- annihilation, which are largely composed of spin 0 and spin 1 particles, originate from the fragmentation of spin 1/2 quarks. Roy Schwitters used muon pair production to measure the polarization of the beams in the electron-positron storage ring SPEAR. He showed that the azimuthal distribution of high momentum hadrons in hadronic final states was the same as that observed for muon pairs, consistent with the origin of these hadrons from the fragmentation of spin 1/2 quarks."

Schwitters is currently the S.W. Richardson Foundation Regental Professor of Physics at the University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches and conducts research in experimental high energy physics. Schwitters has been involved with research in high energy physics and related developments in particle detectors and accelerators for over twenty years. From its founding in 1989 until canceled by Congress in 1993, he was director of the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) Laboratory in Dallas, Texas. He joined Stanford in 1971 as a research associate after receiving his Ph.D. degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, eventually becoming an associate professor at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. From 1979 until assuming the directorship of the SSC, he was a professor of physics at Harvard University.

1996 ANEESUR RAHMAN PRIZE
Established in 1992 with support from IBM and Argonne National Laboratory, the prize is intended to recognize and encourage outstanding achievement in computational physics research.

Steven G. LouieUniversity of California, Berkeley

Citation: "For innovative applications of quantum theory and computational physics to predict the properties of condensed matter systems, especially the excitation spectra of semiconductors and insulators."

Louie is a professor of physics at the University of California at Berkeley and faculty senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He received his Ph.D. degree in physics in 1976 from the University of California at Berkeley. After working at the IBM Watson Research Center, AT&T Bell Laboratories, and the University of Pennsylvania, he joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 1980. His research interests have been on the electronic and structural properties of crystals, surfaces, interfaces, clusters, and materials under pressure, and on quasiparticle excitations in solids and electron correlations effects in bulk and reduced dimensional systems.

1996 J.J. SAKURAI PRIZE
Established in 1984 by contributions from the friends of J.J. Sakurai, this prize is awarded annually in recognition of outstanding achievements in particle theory.

William Allan BardeenFermi National Laboratory

Citation: "For fundamental insights into the structure and meaning of the axial anomaly and for contributions to the understanding of perturbative quantum chromodynamics."

Bardeen earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1968. Following research appointments at SUNY at Stony Brook and the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, he was an assistant and associate professor in the Physics Department at Stanford University. In 1975, Bardeen joined the staff of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory where he has served as head of the Theoretical Physics Department. During 1993-1994, he was head of Theoretical Physics at the SSC Laboratory before its termination. He has held visiting appointments at physics institutes around the world including CERN, the Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics in Munich, Germany, and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

1996 ROBERT R. WILSON PRIZE
Established in 1986, the Wilson Prize is intended to recognize and encourage outstanding achievement in the physics of particle accelerators.

Albert Josef HofmannCERN

Citation: "For his numerous experimental techniques developed to elucidate collective phenomena in accelerators and storage rings; in particular, the experimental determination of beam impedances and methods for controlling the instabilities that limit beam intensities. His theoretical insights and experimental innovations have led directly to higher intensities in many circular accelerators and storage rings for both particle physics and synchrotron radiation production. As a superb teacher and mentor, he has been unfailingly generous in conveying his knowledge and insight to others, especially younger physicists and engineers."

Born in Switzerland, Hoffman studied physics at the ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) and obtained his diploma in 1957. Following this he taught at the ETH and continued research leading to the development of a new magnetic spectrometer. He received his Dr. Nat. Sci. in 1964. From 1966 to 1973 he worked as a research fellow at the Cambridge Electron Accelerator on an electron-positron colliding beam facility and physics experiment. When the Cambridge Electron Accelerator closed, he worked at CERN in Geneva on beam dynamics problems of the hadron collider ISR, and on the design of the Large Electron Positron ring (LEP.) In 1983 he accepted a professorship in applied research at Stanford University. In 1987, Hoffman returned to CERN for the LEP commissioning and currently works on accelerator issues of this research machine.

1996 PRIZE FOR RESEARCH IN AN UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTION
Established in 1984 by a grant from the Research Corporation, this prize is intended to honor a physicist whose research in an undergraduate setting has achieved wide recognition and contributed significantly to physics, and who has contributed substantially to the professional development of undergraduate physics students.

David PeakUnion College

Citation: "For his research contributions in condensed matter physics, including defect production and atomic mixing in ion-irradiated metals, and diffusion controlled nucleation, and for his role in engaging undergraduate students in the research process through projects leading to publications and conference presentations."

Peak is the Frank and Marie Louise Bailey Professor of Physics at Union College in Schenectady, New York, currently on leave as a visiting professor of physics at Utah State University. Peak received his Ph.D. from SUNY Albany in 1969. He was an instructor of Physics at SUNY-Albany from 1971 to 1975, when he joined the faculty of Union College. He has held research appointments at Princeton University, Argonne National Laboratory, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Peak's research has resulted in numerous publications, many with undergraduate co-authors, and invited presentations. He was a founding member of the present Council on Undergraduate Research, and has been a governor of the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research since 1987.

Awards

1996 FORUM AWARD
Established in 1974 by the Forum on Physics and Society, the Forum Award is intended to recognize outstanding accomplishments in the endeavor to promote public understanding of issues involving the interface between physics and society.

Kevin AylesworthAPS Congressional Fellow

Citation: "For promoting public understanding of the problems faced by young scientists."

Aylesworth received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Nebraska in 1989, specializing in the magnetic and structural properties of magnetic thin films and multilayers. He spent two years as a postdoctoral associate at the Naval Research Laboratory, and then worked as a technical assistant/paralegal for an attorney in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In May 1990, he founded the Young Scientists Network, an electronic bulletin board intended to publicize the difficulties facing young scientists and to help them discover career alternatives. It now has a membership of over 2,000 from many branches of science. He is an APS General Councillor, and is currently serving as an APS Congressional Fellow in Washington, DC.

1996 LEO SZILARD AWARD
This award was established in 1974 by the Forum on Physics and Society in recognition of Leo Szilard's concern for the social consequences of science. Its purpose is to recognize outstanding accomplishments by a physicist in promoting the use of physics for the benefit of society in such areas as the environment, arms control, and science policy.

David HafemeisterCalifornia Polytechnic Institute

Citation: "For applying physics to issues of nuclear weapons proliferation, arms control, more efficient usage of our energy resources, and other matters of public policy; and for effective communiation on such issues to the physics community, policy makers, and the general public."

Hafemeister received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1964. He is currently a professor of physics at California Polytechnic State University. He was the lead on technical matters for the ratification of the START, CFE, and TTBT arms control treaties while serving as a professional staff member of the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations and Governmental Affairs from 1990 to 1993. Other arms control tasks included service as the science advisor to Senator John Glenn from 1975 to 1977, and at the State Department Offices of Nuclear Proliferation Policy in 1979. He also served on the committee for Strategic Nuclear Policy in 1987, and as an advisor on arms control for several universities.

Dissertation Awards

1996 DISSERTATION IN BEAM PHYSICS AWARD
Established in 1990 and supported by the Universities Research Association, the award is intended to recognize doctoral thesis research of outstanding quality and achievement in beam physics and engineering.

Dan Tyler AbellUniversity of MarylandAdvisor - Alex Dragt

Citation: "For his contributions in applying advanced mathematical theory of Taylor series of several complex variables to determine the domain of convergence for dynamical systems and for his contribution in advancing and determining an optimal symplectification scheme for the Taylor map applicable particularly to long term tracking in accelerator physics."

Abell earned his BA in physics at Swarthmore College in 1982. He then taught physics and math at the Dublin School, a small prep school in New Hampshire, before going on to pursue graduate work. He received an M.Sc. from the University of Maryland in 1989 for experimental work in surface physics, and his Ph.D. in dynamical systems and accelerator theory in 1995. Working under the guidance of Alex Dragt, Abell's research centered on two topics: (i) the relationship between the domain of convergence of a given Taylor series map and the singularities of the motion in the underlying dynamical system; and (ii) optimal schemes for symplectifying a given Taylor series map for the purpose of doing long-term tracking studies in accelerator physics. He is continuing his research on the latter, with particular emphasis on applications to the Large Hadron Collider.

Citation: "For an innovative study of the radiative capture of polarized protons by deuterons below 80 KeV. The extraordinary care and persistence of his work and the depth of his involvement at all stages of the experiment and in the analysis have produced new insights into nuclear reactions at these very low energies. These results are important for our understanding of protostellar evolution and of the few-nucleon system as well."

Schmid received his Ph.D. in nuclear physics from Duke University in 1995. Since then, he has been working as a postdoctoral fellow in the nuclear science division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research at LBL has focused on two separate topics: that of helping to design a new generation of (g-ray detector, and doing research in nuclear structure physics. His current work in detector design has dealt with writing computer Monte Carlo codes and cluster identification routines so as to maximize the performance of a proposed highly segmented Ge detector ("GRETA"). His work in nuclear structure physics has dealt with extending the known level scheme of 235U by using the enormous resolving power of Gammasphere.

Medals & Lectrueships

1995 DWIGHT NICHOLSON MEDAL
Established in 1993, the Nicholson Medal is intended to honor a physicist who has exhibited extraordinary qualities in such areas as education, the improvement of the quality of life in our society, and fostering international cooperation in physics.

Yuri OrlovCornell University

Citation: "For uniting his love of physics with an intense dedication to international human rights; for his public espousal of openness and freedom in the face of severe personal consequences; for co-founding the Moscow chapter of Amnesty International and founding the first Helsinki Watch group; for helping establish Helsinki groups elsewhere in the Soviet Union; for his outspoken support of Andrei Sakharov; and for his continuing work for democratic principles in former-USSR countries, in China and in Bosnia. Yuri Orlov's commitment and accomplishments have inspired a generation of fighters for freedom worldwide."

After graduating from Moscow's Physical-Technical Institute in 1952, Orlov conducted research in theoretical physics at ITEP, working on the design of the facility's proton-synchrotron and developing a theory of nonlinear betatron oscillations and betatron and synchro-betratron resonances. He eventually earned a Ph.D. in 1958. After several years at the Yerevan Physics Institute in Armenia, he became laboratory chief of electro- magnetic interaction, and earned a second Ph.D. in 1963. He returned to Moscow in 1972, but was forbiden to work at ITEP or Moscow University. Instead, he joined the Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism and Dissemination of Radio Waves, from which he was fired the following year. He never again held a scientific position in the USSR.

Orlov is presently a senior scientist at Cornell University's Newman Laboratory of Nuclear Studies. Until his 1977 arrest, he published more than 50 scientific articles in leading journals and conference proceedings, and smuggled out three more while imprisoned. Since coming to the West in 1986, he has published ten more scientific papers, as well as several human rights and political articles. His autobiographical memoir, Dangerous Thoughts, was published in 1991.

Editor's Note: The recipients of the 1996 Apker Award will also be honored during the ceremonial session at the May Joint APS/AAPT Meeting. Names, citations and biographical information were published in the January 1996 issue of APS NEWS.

Twelve APS prizes and awards will be presented during a special ceremonial session at the Society's general meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, 2-5 May 1996, held in conjunction with the American Association of Physics Teachers. Citations and biographical information for each recipient follows.

Prizes

1996 JULIUS E. LILIENFELD PRIZE
The Lilienfeld Prize was established in 1988 under the terms of a bequest of Beatrice Lilienfeld in memory of her husband, Julius Edgar Lilienfeld. It is intended to recognize outstanding contributions to physics by an individual who has also demonstrated exceptional skills in lecturing to diverse audiences. The prize includes expenses for three lectures to be given by the recipient at an APS general meeting, a research university, and a predominantly undergraduate institution.

Kip S. ThorneCalifornia Institute of Technology

Citation: "For contributing significantly to the theoretical understanding of such topics as black holes, gravitational radiation and quantum nondemolition measurements; for advocating tirelessly the development of gravitational radiation detectors; and for conveying lucidly the excitement of these topics to professional and lay audiences alike."

Thorne received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1965. After two years of postdoctoral study, he returned to Caltech as an associate professor, becoming professor of theoretical physics in 1970. He became the William R. Kenan Jr., Professor in 1981 and the Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics in 1991. Thorne's research has focused on gravitation physics and astrophysics, with emphasis on black holes and gravitational waves. He was co-founder of the LIGO Project (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory), and he and his research group are now working on theoretical aspects of LIGO.

1996 TOM W. BONNER PRIZE
The Tom W. Bonner Prize was established in 1964 to recognize and encourage outstanding experimental research in nuclear physics, including the development of a method, technique, or device that significantly contributes in a general way to nuclear physics research.

John Dirk WaleckaCEBAF/College of William and Mary

Citation: "For his pre-eminent theoretical guidance and inspirational leadership in exploiting electromagnetic and weak probes of the nucleus and for his fundamental contributions to the understanding of the nucleus as a relativistic quantum many-body system."

Walecka received his Ph.D. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1958. He spent two years at CERN and Stanford on an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship, and in 1960, joined the Stanford Physics Faculty, turning emeritus in 1987. In 1986, Walecka became Scientific Director of CEBAF and served in that capacity until 1992, when he became Governor's Distinguished CEBAF Professor of Physics at the College of William & Mary and Senior Fellow at CEBAF. He is currently chair of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics, and of the Physics Department at William & Mary.

1996 W.K.H. PANOFSKY PRIZE
Established in 1985 by the friends of W.K.H. Panofsky and the Division of Particles and Fields, this prize is awarded annually in recognition of outstanding achievements in experimental particle physics.

Gail Hanson Citation: "Gail Hanson and Roy Schwitters are honored for their separate contributions which together provided the first clear evidence that hadronic final states in e+e- annihilation, which are largely composed of spin 0 and spin 1 particles, originate from the fragmentation of spin 1/2 quarks. Gail Hanson observed hadron jets and determined the jet axis by developing and applying the sphericity analysis to the hadrons in e+ e- events. She showed that events become more jet-like with increasing energy, contrary to what one expects from a simple phase space production mechanism. Using the beam polarization, she showed that the observed azimuthal distribution of the jet axis was that expected from the production of spin 1/2 quarks that fragment into hadrons."

Hanson received her Ph.D. from MIT in 1972 and joined the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center as a research associate, eventually becoming a permanent member of the research staff. She left SLAC in 1989 to become a professor of physics at Indiana University. A fellow of both the APS and AAPT, she has served on numerous advisory committees, including the HEPAP Subpanel on High Energy Physics over the next decade.

Roy Schwitters Citation: "Gail Hanson and Roy Schwitters are honored for their separate contributions which together provided the first clear evidence that hadronic final states in e+ e- annihilation, which are largely composed of spin 0 and spin 1 particles, originate from the fragmentation of spin 1/2 quarks. Roy Schwitters used muon pair production to measure the polarization of the beams in the electron-positron storage ring SPEAR. He showed that the azimuthal distribution of high momentum hadrons in hadronic final states was the same as that observed for muon pairs, consistent with the origin of these hadrons from the fragmentation of spin 1/2 quarks."

Schwitters is currently the S.W. Richardson Foundation Regental Professor of Physics at the University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches and conducts research in experimental high energy physics. Schwitters has been involved with research in high energy physics and related developments in particle detectors and accelerators for over twenty years. From its founding in 1989 until canceled by Congress in 1993, he was director of the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) Laboratory in Dallas, Texas. He joined Stanford in 1971 as a research associate after receiving his Ph.D. degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, eventually becoming an associate professor at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. From 1979 until assuming the directorship of the SSC, he was a professor of physics at Harvard University.

1996 ANEESUR RAHMAN PRIZE
Established in 1992 with support from IBM and Argonne National Laboratory, the prize is intended to recognize and encourage outstanding achievement in computational physics research.

Steven G. LouieUniversity of California, Berkeley

Citation: "For innovative applications of quantum theory and computational physics to predict the properties of condensed matter systems, especially the excitation spectra of semiconductors and insulators."

Louie is a professor of physics at the University of California at Berkeley and faculty senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He received his Ph.D. degree in physics in 1976 from the University of California at Berkeley. After working at the IBM Watson Research Center, AT&T Bell Laboratories, and the University of Pennsylvania, he joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 1980. His research interests have been on the electronic and structural properties of crystals, surfaces, interfaces, clusters, and materials under pressure, and on quasiparticle excitations in solids and electron correlations effects in bulk and reduced dimensional systems.

1996 J.J. SAKURAI PRIZE
Established in 1984 by contributions from the friends of J.J. Sakurai, this prize is awarded annually in recognition of outstanding achievements in particle theory.

William Allan BardeenFermi National Laboratory

Citation: "For fundamental insights into the structure and meaning of the axial anomaly and for contributions to the understanding of perturbative quantum chromodynamics."

Bardeen earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1968. Following research appointments at SUNY at Stony Brook and the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, he was an assistant and associate professor in the Physics Department at Stanford University. In 1975, Bardeen joined the staff of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory where he has served as head of the Theoretical Physics Department. During 1993-1994, he was head of Theoretical Physics at the SSC Laboratory before its termination. He has held visiting appointments at physics institutes around the world including CERN, the Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics in Munich, Germany, and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

1996 ROBERT R. WILSON PRIZE
Established in 1986, the Wilson Prize is intended to recognize and encourage outstanding achievement in the physics of particle accelerators.

Albert Josef HofmannCERN

Citation: "For his numerous experimental techniques developed to elucidate collective phenomena in accelerators and storage rings; in particular, the experimental determination of beam impedances and methods for controlling the instabilities that limit beam intensities. His theoretical insights and experimental innovations have led directly to higher intensities in many circular accelerators and storage rings for both particle physics and synchrotron radiation production. As a superb teacher and mentor, he has been unfailingly generous in conveying his knowledge and insight to others, especially younger physicists and engineers."

Born in Switzerland, Hoffman studied physics at the ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) and obtained his diploma in 1957. Following this he taught at the ETH and continued research leading to the development of a new magnetic spectrometer. He received his Dr. Nat. Sci. in 1964. From 1966 to 1973 he worked as a research fellow at the Cambridge Electron Accelerator on an electron-positron colliding beam facility and physics experiment. When the Cambridge Electron Accelerator closed, he worked at CERN in Geneva on beam dynamics problems of the hadron collider ISR, and on the design of the Large Electron Positron ring (LEP.) In 1983 he accepted a professorship in applied research at Stanford University. In 1987, Hoffman returned to CERN for the LEP commissioning and currently works on accelerator issues of this research machine.

1996 PRIZE FOR RESEARCH IN AN UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTION
Established in 1984 by a grant from the Research Corporation, this prize is intended to honor a physicist whose research in an undergraduate setting has achieved wide recognition and contributed significantly to physics, and who has contributed substantially to the professional development of undergraduate physics students.

David PeakUnion College

Citation: "For his research contributions in condensed matter physics, including defect production and atomic mixing in ion-irradiated metals, and diffusion controlled nucleation, and for his role in engaging undergraduate students in the research process through projects leading to publications and conference presentations."

Peak is the Frank and Marie Louise Bailey Professor of Physics at Union College in Schenectady, New York, currently on leave as a visiting professor of physics at Utah State University. Peak received his Ph.D. from SUNY Albany in 1969. He was an instructor of Physics at SUNY-Albany from 1971 to 1975, when he joined the faculty of Union College. He has held research appointments at Princeton University, Argonne National Laboratory, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Peak's research has resulted in numerous publications, many with undergraduate co-authors, and invited presentations. He was a founding member of the present Council on Undergraduate Research, and has been a governor of the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research since 1987.

Awards

1996 FORUM AWARD
Established in 1974 by the Forum on Physics and Society, the Forum Award is intended to recognize outstanding accomplishments in the endeavor to promote public understanding of issues involving the interface between physics and society.

Kevin AylesworthAPS Congressional Fellow

Citation: "For promoting public understanding of the problems faced by young scientists."

Aylesworth received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Nebraska in 1989, specializing in the magnetic and structural properties of magnetic thin films and multilayers. He spent two years as a postdoctoral associate at the Naval Research Laboratory, and then worked as a technical assistant/paralegal for an attorney in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In May 1990, he founded the Young Scientists Network, an electronic bulletin board intended to publicize the difficulties facing young scientists and to help them discover career alternatives. It now has a membership of over 2,000 from many branches of science. He is an APS General Councillor, and is currently serving as an APS Congressional Fellow in Washington, DC.

1996 LEO SZILARD AWARD
This award was established in 1974 by the Forum on Physics and Society in recognition of Leo Szilard's concern for the social consequences of science. Its purpose is to recognize outstanding accomplishments by a physicist in promoting the use of physics for the benefit of society in such areas as the environment, arms control, and science policy.

David HafemeisterCalifornia Polytechnic Institute

Citation: "For applying physics to issues of nuclear weapons proliferation, arms control, more efficient usage of our energy resources, and other matters of public policy; and for effective communiation on such issues to the physics community, policy makers, and the general public."

Hafemeister received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1964. He is currently a professor of physics at California Polytechnic State University. He was the lead on technical matters for the ratification of the START, CFE, and TTBT arms control treaties while serving as a professional staff member of the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations and Governmental Affairs from 1990 to 1993. Other arms control tasks included service as the science advisor to Senator John Glenn from 1975 to 1977, and at the State Department Offices of Nuclear Proliferation Policy in 1979. He also served on the committee for Strategic Nuclear Policy in 1987, and as an advisor on arms control for several universities.

Dissertation Awards

1996 DISSERTATION IN BEAM PHYSICS AWARD
Established in 1990 and supported by the Universities Research Association, the award is intended to recognize doctoral thesis research of outstanding quality and achievement in beam physics and engineering.

Dan Tyler AbellUniversity of MarylandAdvisor - Alex Dragt

Citation: "For his contributions in applying advanced mathematical theory of Taylor series of several complex variables to determine the domain of convergence for dynamical systems and for his contribution in advancing and determining an optimal symplectification scheme for the Taylor map applicable particularly to long term tracking in accelerator physics."

Abell earned his BA in physics at Swarthmore College in 1982. He then taught physics and math at the Dublin School, a small prep school in New Hampshire, before going on to pursue graduate work. He received an M.Sc. from the University of Maryland in 1989 for experimental work in surface physics, and his Ph.D. in dynamical systems and accelerator theory in 1995. Working under the guidance of Alex Dragt, Abell's research centered on two topics: (i) the relationship between the domain of convergence of a given Taylor series map and the singularities of the motion in the underlying dynamical system; and (ii) optimal schemes for symplectifying a given Taylor series map for the purpose of doing long-term tracking studies in accelerator physics. He is continuing his research on the latter, with particular emphasis on applications to the Large Hadron Collider.

Citation: "For an innovative study of the radiative capture of polarized protons by deuterons below 80 KeV. The extraordinary care and persistence of his work and the depth of his involvement at all stages of the experiment and in the analysis have produced new insights into nuclear reactions at these very low energies. These results are important for our understanding of protostellar evolution and of the few-nucleon system as well."

Schmid received his Ph.D. in nuclear physics from Duke University in 1995. Since then, he has been working as a postdoctoral fellow in the nuclear science division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research at LBL has focused on two separate topics: that of helping to design a new generation of (g-ray detector, and doing research in nuclear structure physics. His current work in detector design has dealt with writing computer Monte Carlo codes and cluster identification routines so as to maximize the performance of a proposed highly segmented Ge detector ("GRETA"). His work in nuclear structure physics has dealt with extending the known level scheme of 235U by using the enormous resolving power of Gammasphere.

Medals & Lectrueships

1995 DWIGHT NICHOLSON MEDAL
Established in 1993, the Nicholson Medal is intended to honor a physicist who has exhibited extraordinary qualities in such areas as education, the improvement of the quality of life in our society, and fostering international cooperation in physics.

Yuri OrlovCornell University

Citation: "For uniting his love of physics with an intense dedication to international human rights; for his public espousal of openness and freedom in the face of severe personal consequences; for co-founding the Moscow chapter of Amnesty International and founding the first Helsinki Watch group; for helping establish Helsinki groups elsewhere in the Soviet Union; for his outspoken support of Andrei Sakharov; and for his continuing work for democratic principles in former-USSR countries, in China and in Bosnia. Yuri Orlov's commitment and accomplishments have inspired a generation of fighters for freedom worldwide."

After graduating from Moscow's Physical-Technical Institute in 1952, Orlov conducted research in theoretical physics at ITEP, working on the design of the facility's proton-synchrotron and developing a theory of nonlinear betatron oscillations and betatron and synchro-betratron resonances. He eventually earned a Ph.D. in 1958. After several years at the Yerevan Physics Institute in Armenia, he became laboratory chief of electro- magnetic interaction, and earned a second Ph.D. in 1963. He returned to Moscow in 1972, but was forbiden to work at ITEP or Moscow University. Instead, he joined the Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism and Dissemination of Radio Waves, from which he was fired the following year. He never again held a scientific position in the USSR.

Orlov is presently a senior scientist at Cornell University's Newman Laboratory of Nuclear Studies. Until his 1977 arrest, he published more than 50 scientific articles in leading journals and conference proceedings, and smuggled out three more while imprisoned. Since coming to the West in 1986, he has published ten more scientific papers, as well as several human rights and political articles. His autobiographical memoir, Dangerous Thoughts, was published in 1991.

Editor's Note: The recipients of the 1996 Apker Award will also be honored during the ceremonial session at the May Joint APS/AAPT Meeting. Names, citations and biographical information were published in the January 1996 issue of APS NEWS.